Which specs are better for gaming?

May 22, 2018
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Hey guys, I presume plenty of you are hardcore gamers, but I'm relatively new to this market and I'd like to get your opinion on which of these specs is better. I'm picking out what information I believe is relevant, but let me know if there's anything else I should include :)

PC 1:

Intel Core i7 8700 (6-Core/12-Thread, 12MB Cache, up to 4.6GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology)

16GB, DDR4, 2400MHz

128GB M.2 SATA SSD + 2TB SATA 7200RPM HDD

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5

Price: ~ 1300 Euro


PC 2

Intel Core i5 8400 (6-Core, 9MB Cache, up to 4GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology)

16GB,DDR4,2666MHz

1TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5

Price: ~ 1500 Euro


These specs seem roughly comparable to the layperson like me, so I'm not sure if the extra bits for PC 2 justify the price increase. Could anybody shed some light on this? My budget is ~ 1500, but I'd also like value for money.

Thanks in advance!

PS - The gaming I intend to do is flight simming, in case that's relevant. Specifically, on FSX.

 
Solution


Well, the difference in gaming performance wouldn't be much different, but the one I posted would perform better because of the faster CPU, plus it allows for further overclocking. The main difference is like you noticed the SSD, which gives fast boot and load times making the system seem overall faster.

*Btw, I forgot to swap the RAM for faster RAM in my first build. I'd go with 3200MHz RAM instead of 2666MHz if using the Z370 mobo instead of the B360. It would add a small amount of performance.

I can't imagine buying a $1500 PC without an SSD.

You could swap the more expensive CPU for the i5-8400...
I can't imagine spending that much on a gaming PC that doesn't have an SSD.

Both would do well for gaming, but you're not getting as much value for your money with either one as you could by picking out each part yourself. Building yourself is not too difficult.

Both builds are lacking in the SSD/HDD department.

If you could build your own you could get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (€228.19 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€102.48 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€175.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€119.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€57.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card (€449.00 @ Caseking)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (€75.89 @ Alternate)
Power Supply: Corsair - Vengeance 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€64.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€96.82 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1415.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-23 00:50 CEST+0200

or the i7-8700

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (€286.75 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€71.98 @ ARLT)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€175.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€119.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€57.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card (€449.00 @ Caseking)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (€75.89 @ Alternate)
Power Supply: Corsair - Vengeance 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€64.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€96.82 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1398.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-23 01:02 CEST+0200
 
May 22, 2018
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Thanks so much for that detailed response! I don't know enough about computers to be able to judge the specs you gave me vs the ones I posted, other than the SSD. What kind of performance increase would such as rig as say, the first one you mentioned, give, over the second one I posted?
 


Well, the difference in gaming performance wouldn't be much different, but the one I posted would perform better because of the faster CPU, plus it allows for further overclocking. The main difference is like you noticed the SSD, which gives fast boot and load times making the system seem overall faster.

*Btw, I forgot to swap the RAM for faster RAM in my first build. I'd go with 3200MHz RAM instead of 2666MHz if using the Z370 mobo instead of the B360. It would add a small amount of performance.

I can't imagine buying a $1500 PC without an SSD.

You could swap the more expensive CPU for the i5-8400 to go with a better value system while not compromising much performance.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor (€166.35 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€71.98 @ ARLT)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€169.85 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€119.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€57.88 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card (€447.93 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (€75.89 @ Alternate)
Power Supply: Corsair - Vengeance 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€64.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€96.82 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1271.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-23 02:37 CEST+0200
 
Solution
May 22, 2018
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Brilliant, thanks for your help :) I had never properly considered building my own rig. Certainly something I'm now going to look into. Cheers!